Thanks Colin for that information. I of course had noted many times the small writing on the 78s saying “not for broadcast “ but I dismissed them not really thinking about it. I assumed of course they could be played but only once permission was granted. It makes sense then that singers like Bing really depended upon radio to promote their current releases. 

Theses kind of listings annoy me as they defy logic and facts. To not include Bing in the top 10 or at least top 20 shows the ignorance of the people who are compiling the list. It’s the same with the Top 100 movies listings. There are so many films left off that should be included. Anyway I tend to ignore these listings as they are not really important. The only time I was really annoyed was when the Guinness Book of Records placed Elton John’s 1997 Candle in the Wind as number one best selling single. In previous listings it was estimated that Bings White Christmas had amassed sales in excess of 60 million so to suddenly be bumped off the top of the list because Elton’s recording made 33 million was just not logical. I noticed the next year they had changed the title to “biggest selling single in the UK” but I remember that the following year they put Bing back in the number one spot. It’s funny how history and facts can change depending upon the writers. 

Hi David yes I am looking at doing 2 more episodes to cover the extra years. One being “The Later Years” covering 1959-1972 and the other covering “The Early Years” covering the 1930-1931 period. Now that I’ve got into the swing of things I’ve got to keep myself busy! We are finally travelling again in January which will be nice so will get onto it once we get over the festive season in February. Christmas Cheers to all. 

Hi all. The last episode of my series on Bing’s films deals with the 1957 film Man on Fire and it’s interesting to see that at one point Bing says to his teenage son “get your little bucket but over here”. This made me think back to Gary’s book “Going my own way” where he mentions that Bing used to call him names like bucket butt. It was implied in the writing that it was said as an insult and in a cruel way but I think that Bing would have most likely said it in the same manner as he does in this film - as a light hearted jibe very similar to the “insults” that Bing and Bob Hope used to trade back and forth. It goes to show that when reading something it can be taken one way but when heard within the context of a conversation it can have a totally different interpretation. Gary may have taken it as an insult at the time but it may not have been intended that way. Of course we don’t know as we weren’t there so we can only read about Gary’s take on the situation but hearing Bing say the same phrase in this film does give us a different take on the event. 

Well with Avatar 2 about to be released and all the motion capture technology going on it would be possible to create a realistic Bing virtual reality wise but the problem I think is that Bing had an extraordinary career but an ordinary life (dramatically speaking unless you look at his relationship with Dixie and the boys). I wouldn’t like them dramatising his personal life and again dragging his name in the dirt for the sake of making money. I look forward to the 3rd volume of Gary Giddins book before I get too old to read it (and he gets too old to write it!!). 

Hi all just letting you know that if you’re interested the first episode of series three in my series on Bing which deals with 1950 will be available to view from this Sunday 30th October 3pm Sydney Australia time. 
Cheers, Dave Duncan. 

Hi Ian and Jeremy (and others). I’d be more than happy to burn a DVD of the 1936 Anything Goes for you as long as you cover postage charges. The blank DVDs only cost me about 50 cents each and I’ve got heaps of them. Let me know. Cheers, Dave.  

I dropped in to have a chat with David Currington yesterday who lives near me and we had a good catch-up and looked at some rare film clips he had. We got to talking about Anything Goes from 1936 and he mentioned he had a hi definition version of the original film with original title sequence which I had never seen. I had only ever seen and had in my possession the altered version retitled Tops is the Limit for tv release. Sure enough it was the film n pristine condition with the original title sequence intact. This morning I put together a comparison of the 2 and uploaded it to YouTube which you may find interesting. https://youtu.be/TGQIPpeLb3I
I checked Amazon and other US retailers but can’t see that it’s been released anywhere commercially so it’s a great find. 

Hi all. Here’s the link to the final episode of series 2 that looks at 1949. Thanks for watching. Now I have to get to work on series 3 which hopefully will coincide with the anniversary of Bing’s passing. 
https://youtu.be/TZAkzwwi3WY


 

Hi Ian,
Yes it is interesting to hear that Gary Giddins sat down with Gary Crosby and went through his book and that some parts were just exaggerated. With that in mind it’s easier to read and accept. I hope volume two of Gary Giddins was a success and number three is in the works - we can only hope. As for the other books I do have Nathaniel’s book which is nice and tends to concentrate on the golf side of things. Not being a huge golf fan it is not as interesting as the other books but is nice to hear of Nat’s memories. I also have Carolyn Schneider’s  book which I enjoyed and Kathryn’s first book “My Life with Bing” in my collection. The Crosby Years by Ken Barnes I read years ago but lost my copy and I enjoyed that as a good recollection of Bing in his later recording career. Of course other books that I have can be seen in my book collection which is located behind me when talking to camera on my episodes - I can’t recall all of them now but all are very enjoyable to browse through every now and again. Keep well. Dave

PS: Malcolm book Day by Day is such a wonderful read. A lot of information in my series on Bing I have obtained from Malcolm’s on line book which I’m so glad he is sharing. If it was still available at a normal price as a book I’d buy it but copies are now going for $100s which shows it’s rarity and importance. 

Yes thank you David for spreading the word. Much appreciated. The nice thing with posting these is unlike a normal TV show which is broadcast once then disappears, these will be available to view for an unlimited amount of time so old and new Crosby fans can watch them well into the future. 
Cheers,
Dave Duncan

I’ve always loved the film “To be or not to be” (her final film). It’s a wonderful balance between comedy and drama and everyone is wonderful especially Carole and Jack Benny but it’s the script and direction that set it apart. If you haven’t seen it please do. Of course I love Were Not Dressing too but more so for the songs. I would have loved to have been there on the set to join in the fun with all the cast - it seems like they had a great time making it.